What You Don’t Know About Teens and Reading

When
the National Endowment for the Arts released its Reading at Risk survey
in 2004, it seemed like a death knell for teens. Reading, on the whole,
was reportedly on the decline in the United States, and the problem was
particularly serious among young people.

But here’s the good
news: Many experts say reading is far from dead for adolescents, and is
actually on the rise in many ways. It just depends on how you look at
it.

“When people express concern about kids not reading, they
don’t realize that they’re really reading all the time,” says Richard
Beach, a professor in the literacy education program at the University
of Minnesota. “It’s just what they’re reading and how they’re using
media that’s changing. They’re on the forefront of an evolution in how
reading is being redefined.”

Redefining ReadingTeenagers
have become adept at using technologies to communicate with each other,
find information, and connect with new people. Beach notes that teens
now spend more time online (often while in front of the TV) than just
watching TV—unlikely as it sounds, this could be a boon for the future
of reading. “We need to think about how to build on their interests and
strengths in technology,” he says.

Teachers,
he notes, have begun to integrate blogging, wiki writing, podcasts, and
writing in gaming-based simulations into their courses. And libraries
are helping increase teen reading by stepping up their collections of
print and online zines, manga, and comics. At St. Paul’s Highland Park
Library, the use of games has prompted many kids to check out books
that relate to what they’re playing, says librarian Marcus Lowry. Anime
and manga, for example, have started a wave of interest in Japanese
history and culture.

“If teens are excited
about a game or anime, they’ll explore those subjects in different
mediums like Web pages or books,” Lowry says. “The important thing is
not to say books are better than games, or that they should be reading
the classics.”